Cell fate decisions occur through the action of multiple factors, including signalling molecules and transcription factors. Recently, the regulation of translation has emerged as an important step for modulating cellular function and fate, as exemplified by ribosomes that play distinct roles in regulating cell behaviour. Notchless (Nle) is a conserved nuclear protein that is involved in a crucial step in ribosome biogenesis, and is required for the maintenance of adult haematopoietic and intestinal stem/progenitor cells. Here, we show that activated skeletal muscle satellite cells in conditional Nle mutant mice are arrested in proliferation; however, deletion of Nle in myofibres does not impair myogenesis. Furthermore, conditional deletion of Nle in satellite cells during homeostasis did not impact on their fate for up to 3 months. In contrast, loss of Nle function in primary myogenic cells blocked proliferation because of major defects in ribosome formation. Taken together, we show that muscle stem cells undergo a stage-specific regulation of ribosome biogenesis, thereby underscoring the importance of differential modulation of mRNA translation for controlling cell fate decisions.